I know there are dozens of threads regarding this itchy, annoying, emotional topic but I am interested in an up-to-date response regarding how you check for lice themselves.
The reason I am asking is because I have a parent who kept her child home from school today. The student was treated on 10/16 and began coming to me for daily checks (for 2 weeks, as per our policy) on 10/17. I haven't seen ANYTHING since then. She has insanely thick hair so I really take a few minutes and look through her head. A few nits were found the first day but mom combed her out and since then she has been good. Yesterday afternoon mom messaged me saying "Little Susie has nits, I am taking her to a lice clinic tomorrow." This afternoon she sent me a photo of a cup full of what I am assuming are dead lice saying "This came off of Susie's head."
I don't get it! Am I missing something? She really had NOTHING that I could see yesterday morning. I parted her hair in several spots, used a light, used a little stick to separate the hair, checked at the nape of the neck and behind the ears. I truly didn't see anything and now I feel dopey. I'm sure mom thinks I'm a total flake (especially since she and her family worshiped the previous nurse) for not seeing this but I like to give myself enough credit to think that I would have seen all of those lice yesterday AM.
How do you guys usually check for lice? Do you do follow up checks after an infestation? I'm just looking for some insight as to how I could improve my practice.
Just because she had a cup of something, doesn't mean she had lice.
Got to keep in mind that not everything on the head is lice, plus, lice clinics stay in business for one reason only, to find lice. Without a microscope, if you do not have years of experience, I would guess they were probably not lice. Maybe dead nits, but they are not dangerous. even a strong case of lice rarely has more than 15 live lice on a head at any one time. And they are hard to find! Moms and those who get paid big bucks have must more invested. Your job is not to find any possible louse. I often miss them in my quick checks. Ok, I move on. Believe it or not, regardless of what parents think, lice are not the end of the world. Sound like you did eveything I would do. I is really hard to see viable nits. they are much darker brown than the hatched white nits. I often cannot find viable nits, especially on brown or black hair. Just cause susie has nits does not mean susie has lice. My best guess, the cup was full of dead, hatched nits and she actually no longer had lice. Sounds like you did everything right to me!
And truly, this is all I needed to hear. I think just constantly being spoken to like these lice cases are my fault is getting to me. I swear, some of these parents act like all of their responsibility for these kids goes out the door while they are at school. New flash: they are yours, 24/7. You are accountable for their "wellbeing" all the time!
Wait, you mean you don't keep a jar full of the little critters in your desk to sprinkle on unsuspecting innocents? C'mon, admit it, you do, right? It's our dirty little school nurse secret!
Well here's the thing. It's not YOUR responsibility to make sure her kid stays/is lice free.
This is exactly right.
I quit my job as a school nurse a year ago but I never checked for lice during the 5 years I did work there after getting some education about lice.
One of the best things I learned is that lice don't jump.
I was very fortunate to be part of our county's school nurse group when I first became a SN and they helped me so much with how to do my job. And then I had the nurses here on this forum.
debpontius
4 Posts
Just because she had a cup of something, doesn't mean she had lice.
Got to keep in mind that not everything on the head is lice, plus, lice clinics stay in business for one reason only, to find lice. Without a microscope, if you do not have years of experience, I would guess they were probably not lice. Maybe dead nits, but they are not dangerous. even a strong case of lice rarely has more than 15 live lice on a head at any one time. And they are hard to find! Moms and those who get paid big bucks have must more invested. Your job is not to find any possible louse. I often miss them in my quick checks. Ok, I move on. Believe it or not, regardless of what parents think, lice are not the end of the world. Sound like you did eveything I would do. I is really hard to see viable nits. they are much darker brown than the hatched white nits. I often cannot find viable nits, especially on brown or black hair. Just cause susie has nits does not mean susie has lice. My best guess, the cup was full of dead, hatched nits and she actually no longer had lice. Sounds like you did everything right to me!